UPDATE: Michigan Football Spring Game Time Announced
On Friday, the Michigan Football program announced the start time for its annual spring game - set to take place on April 1, 2023. The event will kickoff at 3:00 pm ET and is open to the public.
Here are a few things to keep your eye on:
Offensive Line
Although the Wolverines have featured some great offensive lines in years past, the 2023 version might be the best in program history - which is saying a lot when considering that the Wolverines have captured the Joe Moore award for the last two seasons.
Michigan returns veteran experience in guys like left guard Trevor Keegan, right guard Zak Zinter, and tackles Karsen Barnhart and Trente Jones.
Although they lose the experience of left tackle Ryan Hayes and center Olu Oluwatimi, the Wolverines did a phenomenal job in securing talent from the transfer portal to help fill any gaps that may exist. Center Drake Nugent, a transfer from Stanford, is the most likely candidate to take the place of Oluwatimi. Myles Hinton (6-7, 320 lbs), another transfer from Stanford, will certainly make a push for a starting tackle role.
Either way you cut it, the Michigan Wolverines are absolutely stacked on the offensive line - with at least 14 guys already on the roster who have a legitimate opportunity to earn a starting role.
Wide Receivers
Michigan lost top target Ronnie Bell to the NFL Draft, but returns experience with guys like Cornelius Johnson and Roman Wilson. Although they're younger and have significantly less experience, guys like Darrius Clemons and Tyler Morris are expected to take a big step forward in 2023.
We won't get the full picture of who will separate themselves by the time the fall season kicks off, but it will be interesting to see who McCarthy's top weapons are at this point in spring ball.
Defense
Defensively, the Wolverines are pretty much set at every single position on the field - with a slight question mark at one of the corner positions - although Amorion Walker is certainly generating a lot of buzz early.
Outside of that, the Wolverines return experienced players like DB's Mike Sainristil, Rod Moore, RJ Moten, and Makari Paige, DL's Kris Jenkins and Rayshaun Benny, LB's Michael Barrett, and Junior Colson, along with edge rushers Jaylen Harrell, and Braiden McGregor.
Even better, Michigan has several young players who received a tremendous amount of playing time during their freshman season in Ann Arbor, including guys like CB Will Johnson, EDGE Derrick Moore, DL Mason Graham, and DL Kenneth Grant.
Lastly, the Wolverines welcome two experienced transfers on the defensive side of the ball - sophomore linebacker Ernest Hausmann (Nebraska) and EDGE Josaiah Stewart (Coastal Carolina).
With so much experienced talent set for a return in 2023, the Wolverines should once again have one of the top defensive units in the country.
